Sonia Pulido: "Illustration Fosters Reflection and Change"

We spoke to Spain's winner of the 2020 National Illustration Award about the role of illustration in today's 'tsunami of images'

We could say that Sonia Pulido, illustrator and winner of the National Illustration Award of 2020, decided that she wanted to devote herself to this profession after watching a rerun movie on a Sunday afternoon. When she was nine, she noticed a secondary character in one of those films: an illustrator who had a fantastic studio filled with art materials and drawing tables. Suddenly, all the illustrated books in her home took on a different meaning. "I almost felt something click when I realized it was those people who made the illustration," she recalls.

Unlike many others, she never abandoned drawing. At the university where she studied Fine Arts, she discovered a book by illustrator Ana Juan in the library and had another revelation. It opened the doors to a whole other world. "I came across a style and method different to what I had ever produced before," she explained.

Fast forward a few years, and Sonia Pulido has become one of the most celebrated Spanish illustrators. The National Award is another recognition to be added to her highly successful career. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, El País, and in The New Yorker; she has illustrated books for publishers such as Lumen and Random House Mondadori and the 2018 posters for La Mercè Festival in Barcelona.

We spoke with her about her beginnings, the moments that have marked a before and an after in her career, and the current role of illustration.

Hello, Sonia. An obligatory question: How does it feel to win the National Illustration Award?

I didn't expect it, and when I got the news from the Spanish Minister of Culture, I believe it was one of the happiest moments in my career. It's been a joy. I received so many kind messages, and I felt honored that my work had been recognized by professional colleagues, illustration associations, and publishers alike. You have to play it down and carry on working hard every day, but you undoubtedly get a lot more exposure and a lot more commissions through the door thanks to the award.

What about the exposure you get on social media?

The most important thing for me is to receive emails from clients who want to work with me. I accept likes with gratitude, but I tend to downplay this kind of exposure because external validation is very alluring, but it is easy to get caught up in it. Ultimately, we deliberately show our best work done for the best clients; we don't show the ugly side of our work, the least successful.

There are no formulas in illustration: you have to be consistent with your work and find your own voice, more than a style.

We focus more on the positive, but it should be important to show how everything is not so easy and rosy, especially to beginners. There is also a deal of suffering involved and projects that do not materialize, and commissions you complete that you may not convince you.

How did you evolve professionally?

If I look back, I say, "How could they publish something so horrific!" but it is thanks to those early jobs, with so many flaws, that I have become what I am today. For example, the first project of a certain level I completed was illustrations for Javier Marías' column in the El País Semanal weekly supplement. I feel that I used to include a lot of noise effects, textures, and details. When the Sunday supplement changed the layout, they asked me to try something more basic. At first, I was put off, but then the new style started to contaminate my other work and allowed me to evolve. Lately, I have revisited those noise effects, taking them to a more aesthetically pleasing level.

At this point in my career, I can do more graphic, poster-like art or very complex pieces with highly-developed images, full of textures, colors, and details. It all depends on the article I am illustrating. The idea of staying in my comfort zone or finding a formula is something that scares me.

During your career, you have worked on editorial illustration and book covers. Both formats require condensing the complexity of a text onto an image. What is your work process?

Ultimately, it consists of translating a text into images. There is a straightforward translation of language, but also a broader meaning. The image must not only represent precisely what the text says but also help stretch the subject.

The purpose of my work is not to fulfill a need to express myself personally but to be a spokesperson and put my work at the service of others.

Book covers are incredibly complex because a book is a world in itself. The process is always the same: understand what you are reading; it may seem absurd, but it is a crucial step. I think about the text, find the keywords, the images they evoke, and what other words they lead you to. Then I start to sketch these images, trying not to fall into clichés or stereotypes. I develop two to three sketches, and I send them to the publishers to get some feedback. I tend to send well-developed drawings, which is a risk because it means I spend a lot of time on them, but the feedback is always rather positive.

What would you say was the turning point in your professional trajectory?

The first is the work I did for Javier Marias's columns in El País Semanal, as mentioned. That was a ten-year stint, and it formed me as an illustrator. Another critical moment was when I started working with clients from the States. I know I can create more interesting concepts, and I believe it is also due to who is in charge of the art direction.

On a personal level, another decisive moment was my collaboration with Oxfam Intermón on a human rights project in Colombia. The experience brought me to ask myself what was the purpose of my work. I then decided that illustration was not a form of self-expression but a medium that could raise awareness and help others. I can also mention the commission from Barcelona's local government, for 'La Mercè Festival,' as a high point in my career. Watching the city fill up with women was an empowering moment.

You have worked on collective books, such as Enjambre (Norma Editorial, 2014) and Mujeres Bacanas (Editorial Catalonia, 2017). Many of your illustrations include diversity, women's relationships, and feminism as the focal point. Where does this interest in portraying diversity come from?

As a visual communicator, I am committed to the times I live in, and these topics are very current. In the beginning, I was more naive. When I started to create illustrations for the book Mujeres Bacanas (a publication of 100 women's biographies), I realized that all of them had suffered considerably just for the fact of being women. Something lit up, and I started to see everything with new eyes. When you make this realization, you cannot undo it. It can be disheartening to see how things work.

Illustration is a tool for reflection, and reflection can bring change.

My medium allows for visibility, and I can decide what type of women appear in my illustrations, what their role is, and where I will place them. In the U.S., diversity is central, and you'll be questioned on how minorities will be represented and how they will act. I'm in on it as well, so I get to decide who will be the protagonist actively.

You spoke earlier of being a spokesperson with your illustrations. What is the role of illustration nowadays, in a historical era saturated with images?

The photographer Joan Fontcuberta spoke of a 'tsunami' of images, and that is a fact. We are in constant and infinite image scroll mode. However, I think that illustration is a tool for reflection, and reflection brings change.

I am not saying that illustration is a means for change, that would be naive, but it does foster reflection and highlights certain issues. This is why I particularly enjoy working on environmental themes or others related to discrimination or feminism… They are tough subjects but necessary nonetheless.

You mentioned working for the U.S. How did you get to illustrate for the New York Times?

I work with an agent in the U.S. who introduced me to that market. I do not create using a formula, and I believe that you have to be consistent with your work and find your own voice, more than a style. Your voice can then be in constant transformation, and evolution is necessary.

What advice would you give to the new generations of illustrators?

The main thing is not to be afraid to seek advice from fellow illustrators, whether you know them personally or not. We are all doing the same thing, whether you've been working for the last 20 years or you've just started. You will still have doubts about the contract, the fee, etc. when you get a new client.

I particularly enjoy working on environmental themes or others related to discrimination or feminism… They are tough subjects but necessary nonetheless.

Ask before you get yourself in a sticky situation or risk damaging the whole category. Don't work for free. You should always be paid for your work. If a project has no funding, get something in exchange, at least. As far as an editorial illustration is concerned, you must always maintain your copyright: never accept a lump-sum. We've fought a lot to obtain copyrights, and they are non-negotiable.

And finally, do you have any anecdotes from your career as an illustrator?

There were a couple of instances when I worked for The New Yorker. I illustrated an article about a flutist. When she saw the illustration, she loved it, and she wrote to me to invite me to her concert. I lived near Barcelona, and the show was taking place in New York, so I said I would have loved to, but I could not fit it. I also did an illustration for a film review, and Ethan Hawke's assistant contacted me to see if he could buy the illustration, as he'd particularly liked it. He was not the main character in the image, so it was quite special. I also had a commission for a film festival poster with a picture of Geena Davis. I got to speak to her over the phone. 'I'm over the moon,' I told her—a great moment for me.

If you have been inspired by Sonia Pulido and want to learn everything about illustration, make sure to check one of the discipline's dedicated Domestika courses.

English version by @acesarato.

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